Make a Complaint

Complaints Manager Contact Details

Our Procedures

Any complaint verbal or written will be referred to our complaints manager at the earliest opportunity or to a member of the senior management if the complaints manager is unavailable. We will also

Acknowledge the complaint in writing promptly

Give details in our acknowledgement letter of the Financial Ombudsman Service

Make contact to seek clarification on any points where necessary

Fully investigate the complaint

Keep you informed of our progress

Discuss with you our findings and proposed response

You will receive contact from us advising on progress if we cannot respond immediately. We will let you have our final response as soon as possible and not later than eight weeks.

Adviser or Provider

Clients often express dissatisfaction to their adviser about the product provider. We will need to establish whether or not your complaint relates to the advice given, the adviser service or the service or performance of the product provider. If unclear, this must not delay investigation and we will proceed with our own investigation. The complaints manager will review this matter and take the complaint to the provider if appropriate in consultation with you.

Investigation

The complaints manager will establish the nature and scope of your complaint having due regards to the Financial Conduct Authority’s direction:

Deal with complaints promptly and fairly

Give complainants clear replies and, where appropriate, fair redress

Eligible Complainants

It is the firm’s policy to treat all complainants the same, however, eligible complainants are legally defined and have additional rights in law that we must acknowledge and adhere to.

The Financial Conduct Authority complaints rules apply to complaints:

Made by, or on behalf of an eligible complainant;

Relating to regulated activity;

Involving an allegation that the complainant has suffered, or may suffer, financial loss, material distress or material inconvenience;

Final response

This will set out clearly the firm’s decision and the reasons for it. If any compensation is offered a clear method of calculation will be shown.

We must include details of the Financial Ombudsman Service in the final response if dealing with an eligible complainant and a regulated activity, we will:

Explain that the complainant must refer the matter to the ombudsman within six months of the date of this letter or the right to use this service is lost

Indicate whether or not we consent to waive the relevant time limits.

Complaints Settled within 3 business days

Complaints that can be settled to your satisfaction within 3 business days can be recorded and communicated differently.

Where we consider a complaint to be resolved to your satisfaction under this section, we will promptly send you a ‘Summary Resolution Communication’, being a written communication from us which:

refers to the fact that you have made a complaint and informs you that we now consider the complaint to have been resolved to your satisfaction;

We will tell you that if you subsequently decide that you are dissatisfied with the resolution of the complaint you may be able to refer the complaint back to us for further consideration or alternatively refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service;

Indicates whether or not the we consent to waive the relevant time limits, (where we have discretion in such matters)

Provide the website address of the Financial Ombudsman Service; and

Refer to the availability of further information on the website of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

In addition to sending you a Summary Resolution Communication, we may also use other methods to communicate the information where:

We consider that doing so may better meet your needs; or

We have already been using another method to communicate about the complaint.

Closing a complaint

We will consider a complaint closed when we have made our final response to you. This does not prevent you from exercising any rights you may have to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Financial Ombudsman Service

We will co-operate fully with the Ombudsman in resolving any complaints made against us and agree to be bound by any awards made by the Ombudsman. The firm undertakes to pay promptly any fees levied by the Ombudsman.

Contact:

The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR

Tel: 0800 023 4567 (free for most people ringing from a fixed line) or 0300 123 9123 (cheaper for those calling using a mobile) or 020 7964 0500 (if calling from abroad)

Where we cannot resolve any complaints using our own complaints procedure, as a Which? Trusted trader we use Dispute Resolution Ombudsman for dispute resolution. In the unlikely event of a complaint arising and you wish to refer the complaint to them please contact 0333 241 3209 or via their website http://www.disputeresolutionombudsman.org/membership/whichtrustedtraders/